WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Health on Monday voted unanimously not to revoke the license of a South Williamstown restaurant that has been operating under a boil water order from the state Department of Environmental Protection since December.

 

Instead the board ordered the '6 House Pub to use more prominent signage to notify patrons of the order, called for more frequent inspections by the town's health inspector and warned the restaurant that even one instance of E. coli contamination tied to the establishment will be grounds for revocation.

 

Michael Oring, the owner of the '6 House and 1896 House Inn on Cold Spring Road (Route 7) appeared before the board along with his attorney, Thane Preite, and members of the '6 House staff to explain how the restaurant has operated under the boil water order and how it plans to address replacement of a well that serves the restaurant in the short and long term.

 

The '6 House is one of a handful of Williamstown eating establishments that operate outside the town's water district.

 

On Dec. 20, 2023, DEP issued a boil-water order for the restaurant, Health Inspector Ruth Russell told the board. Since that time, the restaurant has been serving bottled water and soda, bringing in bags of ice and boiling all water used in food preparation. It also has turned off the water in the sinks in its public restrooms.

 

Great Barrington Health Agent Rebecca Jurczyk, who has been mentoring Russell since she was hired by Williamstown, said corrective measures like bottled water, etc., generally are temporary. And Jurczyk advised the board that it should pull the restaurant's license rather than allow it to continue with those measures.

 

"I don't like to close businesses," Jurczyk said. "That's not what we do in Great Barrington. We don't willy-nilly close businesses. I can count on one hand the number of times I've closed a restaurant, and it's always because of a water issue. Most of the time, it's very temporary.